"I prefer to die standing than living on my knees.” – Stephane Charbonnier
“We cannot sacrifice what is right for what is expedient.” – RadioMattM

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Late Friday Night Video

Tom found this video and sent it to me last month and it absolutely knocked my socks off. It's my favorite Eagles song of all time so it was ironic that I didn't even recognize the name Randy Meisner. Tom told me that - due to long-standing litigation between group members - it's unusual to find live video clips from the 70's. So naturally I wanted to learn more and found (fellow band member) Don Leadon's book on the band Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001). Can't wait to read it!
In reading Randy's wiki page I was struck by the following:

Meisner formally quit the band in September 1977, citing "exhaustion". On his abrupt resignation from the band, Meisner said, "All that stuff and all the arguing amongst the Eagles is over now. Well at least for me." Meisner expressed disappointment and hurt at being excluded from the band's 1994 "resumption" tour Hell Freezes Over. In an interview with the television program American Journal, Meisner said he had contacted the band's manager, Irving Azoff, when he heard rumors of the band reforming but was brushed off by Azoff. "You'd think that you would be mentioned if you helped with six of the albums, but they act as though I never even played with them," Meisner said at the time. Randy also asked the band if he could sit in with them at their Millennium Concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve 1999, but says he was rebuffed. However, he holds no resentment towards Henley and Frey, has never said any unkind words about them for years and neither he nor Leadon share the bitterness of Felder.

Also this:

Many people who have met and worked with Randy Meisner remark on his kindness. Both Don Felder and James Taylor have described Meisner as one of the nicest people they've ever worked with. Felder adds, "He was a wonderful Midwestern guy with a great heart and a loving soul." Henry Diltz, who photographed Randy extensively with the Eagles and in the early 1980s during Randy's solo career, says, "Randy Meisner was a very gentle soul. Pisces. A quiet and friendly guy. No aggressive vibe at all. Very sweet. He was so there and open." His shyness has also been remarked upon, and may have caused him some difficulty as a performer at times. "Randy was extremely uncomfortable with so-called superstardom," Don Henley told author Marc Eliot.

I bet RadioMattM already knew all this (where have you been, Matt???), but it was new to me. He sounds like a wonderful guy. Watch it all, Meisner's falsetto at the end is truly amazing. Enjoy!

4 comments:

I knew Randy Meisner was a member of the Eagles but I don't know much about him. (I stopped paying attention to the Eagles from Hotel California onwards). I do know that the Eagles say that Joe Walsh was forced on them and that they really didn't want him.

That was probably Frey and/or Henley that said it. Those guys are such douche bags, apparently their egos have clouded their better judgement over the years. Frey couldn't pack Joe Walsh's lunch when it comes to guitar chops. Frey threatened to kill Leadon during a concert, the audio of their back and forth still exists.

Like you, I like their old stuff, I'm not even sure if they have written any new music. Their "issues" remind me of John Fogerty, his artistry is undeniable but he just could not get along with anyone else in the band (Including his own brother, with whom he argued on his death bed!) Ditto Gerry Rafferty, perhaps the most talented of them all but he simply could not/would not work with other people. Sad.

I adore the Eagles. So many of their songs evoke memories...good music can do that..a timelessness that sweeps you up and carries you away. One of my faves is "Best of My Love". My son's dad and I lived that song; it's like they wrote it for us. *sigh* Henley did the vocals on that one, but I think Meisner was in the band too.